RO water sources

[hbhudy]

Where do most people get their RO water? I was looking at a RO water filter from lowes or home depot. I look forward to hearing feedback.

 

[Komocabo]

I get mine outside of a grocery store... $2 for 5 gallons.

 

[GotPushrods]

Every gas station and grocery store around here has a machine outside. $1 for 5 gallons, or 0.25 per gallon at a time.

If you've resolved to use RO water from now on as many people have, RO systems are getting very affordable. I'm all-in for about 150 bucks, and that includes an awesome Dow Filmtec membrane that consistently gives me 99% rejection on 400-500 TDS input water.

 

[MikeInMKE]

Local grocery store, $1.89 to refill a 5G container.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Same here as most people. Glacier RO machine at the grocery store. $0.30/gallon. It's perfect brewing water.

 

[corkybstewart]

Most home RO units don't put out enough water at one time for brewing. Mine has a 2 gallon tank but realistically I can only draw a gallon at a time and then it's gonna take a couple of hours to refill.

 

[ajdelange]

Most home RO units don't put out enough water at one time for brewing. Mine has a 2 gallon tank but realistically I can only draw a gallon at a time and then it's gonna take a couple of hours to refill.

Taking the pressure tank out of the system increases the flow appreciably (no back pressure) and adding a simple pump at the input can increase it further still. And you can buy systems that produce 50 gpd or more pretty inexpensively.

If you remove the pressure tank just route the membrane out to you HLT and start collecting early enough that you have sufficient water at dough in time.

 

[etk29321]

I replaced the 2 gal tank that came with mine with a 10gal tank. Plenty for 5 gal batches. Since I've moved to 10gal, I just collect 10gal into my HLT a day before brewing and I have a second 10 gal waiting for me on brew day to make my ~17 gal total I need.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[LuckyBeagleBrewing]

I use an RO-DI system in to a food grade 55 gallon barrel. It is sealed good enough to keep everything out and works great for DI water. Gives me enough for 30 gallon batches. If I need more than that, I can just run it off in to other containers and it will regen in one day.

 

[mabrungard]

Regardless of getting your RO water from a machine at the store or out of your own machine, every RO user should have their own Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) meter to enable the checking and verification of the water quality from the machine. A RO machine will eventually wear out and require servicing. A TDS meter is a quick and inexpensive way to monitor the quality of the RO water. In most cases, the TDS reading for RO water will be less than 50 ppm and in many cases the reading will be less than 25 ppm. If the TDS reading is greater than 50 ppm, the machine clearly needs servicing. You won't know that without the TDS meter. Get one, they are cheap and nearly bulletproof simple.

 

[MNDan]

I just bought an RO system a few years ago. I can make RO water for around 4/5ths of a cent per gallon in water costs. It's a home system that I have integrated into my kitchen sink so I can drink RO water all of the time, which has me drinking TONS more water. I have a few water carboys that I fill as needed.

This is what I have, and it's ideal for my needs (drinking water along with brewing 200 gallons of beer a year): http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-4-stage-ro-drinking-water-system-75gpd-1.html